Tubular drum payout

ABSTRACT

A wire payout assembly that fits over the upper end of a drum of wire to prevent coils and groups of coils that come out of the drum from reaching a wire winding machine. The wire leaves the drum along an inner cone that holds loops of wire substantially horizontal as they unwind. Successively smaller diameter turns of tubing in an outer cone cause any groups of coils to pull apart into individual coils that unwind more easily. Guiding means at the top of the outer cone lead the wire to a winding machine or other use location.

United States Patent [1 1 Lodato et al. I July 10, 1973 [54] TUBULARDRUM PAYOUT 2,752,108 6/1956 Richardson 242/128 [75] lnventors: PeterLodato, St. Louis; Eugene W.

s n Bridgeton, both f Primary ExammerLeonard D. ChristianAttorney-Sandoe, Hopgood & Calimafde [73] Assignee: General CableCorporation, New

York, NY. ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Oct. 13, 1971 A wire payout assembly thatfits over the upper end of Pl 88,810 a drum of wire to prevent coils andgroups of coils that come out of the drum from reaching a wire winding52 us. Cl. 242/129 machine The Wire leaves the drum along an inner cone51 Int. Cl 1365!! 49/00 that holds 100p8 of Wire Substantially hrilmalas they [58] Field of Search 242/128, 129; hhwihdsuccessively smallerdiameter turns of tubing 57/106408 in an outer cone cause any groups ofcoils to pull apart into individual coils that unwind more easily.Guiding [56] References Cited means at the top of the outer cone leadthe wire to a UNITED STATES PATENTS winding machine or other uselocation. 3,203,642 8/1965 Hirst 242/128 11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1/9.: 26 q j. 22 "it 1 TUBULAR DRUM PAYOUT BACKGROUND'AND SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION When paying out wire from drums, individual coils or smallgroups of coils which normally lie in the horizontal position sometimesmove into a vertical plane as they leave the drum. The tension in thewire leaving the package will cause such a vertical loop'to close downinto a very small e shape which cannot pass through winding machines. Toprevent the formation of such an c this payout provides an inner cone ofsuch length that the wire has assumed a large pitch helix (open spiral)before the coil is free to assume improper position. To prevent the wirecoils from clamping tightly on the inner cone, as they reduce in sizeduring payout, the inner cone is made with a slight taper.

To separate groups of coils, which try to leave the package as a unit,into individual coils, a series of hoops is provided. Each successivehoop, that the wire must pass through, is smaller than the previous one.The spacing between them allows random coils from the group tomomentarily catch and separate from the group. By the time such a grouphas passed through the series of hoops the group has been reduced toseparated individual coils.

The hoops are constructed of steel tubing and assembled by brazing sothat all surfaces are smooth and rounded. It is also desirable to obtainmaximum rigidity with minimum weight, so light weight steel tubing isused as the primary construction material. The hoops are assembled bybrazing because of the smooth surface produced as compared to arcwelding.

The series of hoops can also be constructed from one continuous tubeshaped into a large pitch, 6-inch pitch for example, tapered helix. Theentry should be sized for the drum and the exit should be comparativelysmall, 3 or 4 inches in diameter for example.

As the wire leaves the area of the hoops, it enters a guide tube whichguides it into a very deep grooved pulley. An exit guide tube is alsoprovided. The guide tubes guide the wire back onto the pully when thewire has over traveled due to very rapid winding machine stops.

The payout assembly of this invention has a lower end of the outer coneconstructed to fit over and to be positioned by the upper end of astandard wire drum. The inner cone fits into the drum and into the openspace at the center of the coil of wire contained in the drum.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear orbe pointed out as the description proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING at the top of the wire drum, thesection being taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detailed view at the location 4-4 of FIG. 2illustrating the connection between the upper and lower parts of theinner cone; and

FIG. 5 is a small scale, diagrammatic view showing the frame of FIGS. 1and 2 constructed with a helical tube in place of the spaced hoops ofFIGS. 1 and 2, this being a modified form of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The wire payout assembly includes aframe 10 which has tubing 12 located at angularly spaced locationsaround an axis 14; the angular spacing in the illustrated embodimentbeing Each of the tubes 12 is connected to a number of hoops or turns oftubing 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d and 16e.

The turns of tubing 16 are preferably evenly spaced from one another ina vertical direction and they are connected at points 18, by brazing orotherwise, to the converging tubes 12 so as to form a frusto conicalframe.

Two of the tubes 12 extend upwardly beyond the top turn of tubing 16a toform vertical standards 20 which are part of the frame 10 for supportinga bracket 22 connected with the vertical standards 20 so that thebracket 22 is an integral part of the frame 10. A guide 24 consists of atube with its axis in alignment with the vertical axis 14 of the frame.

The bracket 22 supports an axle 26 on which a grooved pulley 28 rotates.This grooved pulley is lo cated so that the bottom of its groove istangent with the axis 14 immediately above the end of the guide tube 24and there is another guide tube 30, supported by the bracket 22, withits axis tangent with a portion of the pulley groove at the top of thepulley.

The guide 30 extends in the direction in which wire is to be supplied bythe wire payout assembly and in the construction illustrated this guide30 is shown standing in a horizontal direction. However, it will beunderstood that the guide 30 can be supported from the bracket 22 indifferent locations depending upon the direction in which the wire is tofeed from the pulley. It is a feature of the construction, that the endsof the guides 24 and 30 which are closest to the pulley, are so close asto cause the wire to come back into the groove of the pulley in theevent that slack accumulates in the wire which carries the wire out ofthe pulley groove; For example, if the payout of wire should be stoppedvery suddenly, the momentum of the wire feeding upward through thepayout assembly might cause slack to accumulate at the pulley 28 andthis slack would carry the wire beyond the pulley at the location of thepulley are between the guide tubes 24 and 30.

Below the turn of tubing 16c, the frame 10 is constructed of acylindrical sheet metal shell 32 which is permanently connected by awelding or brazing to the lower hoop or turn of tubing l6e at a level 34which extends around the circumference of the turn of tubing 16a. Thewire which is to be payed out is contained in a standard wire drum 34;and the wire is designated by the reference character 36. Such drumshave a ridge 38 around their upper ends with a groove 40 below the ridgeand into which a circumferential clamping ring 41 is fitted when thedrum is closed prior to shipping. When the wire is to be payed out fromthe drum 34, the lid is removed and the payout assembly of thisinvention has the frame placed on the ridge 38 as shown in FIG. 2 and asshown in more detail in FIG. 3. The frame 10 is held on the ridge 38 byusing the clamping ring 41 for the purpose.

FIG. 3 shows the cylindrical sheet metal shell 32 with an annularsupport 44 welded to the lower end of the shell 32 by welding 46. Thisconnection can be brazed or made in other ways provided that the annularsupport 44 is an integral part of the shell 32 and extends all the wayaround the circumference of shell 32 with the concentricity necessary tofit over a standard cable drum.

One convenient way in which the annular support can be made is to take alid from a standard wire drum package and cut out the center of the lidwith the cutout of a diameter equal to the outside diameter of thecylindrical sheet metal shell 32. This leaves the lid with thecross-section as shown in FIG. 3 and it can be conveniently welded tothe sheet metal section 32 to provide the support 44 with its lowerconcave surface 48 which fits over the ridge 38 and extends downwardoutside of the ridge.

The wire payout assembly also includes an inner element 56 which ispreferably made of sheet metal and made with a slight taper to smallerdiameter as the cone 56 extends upward. The axis of the inner element 56is substantially coincident with the axis 14 of the frame 10.

The lower end of the inner element 56 has a base or lower portion 58which fits into a cylindrical core 59 which is part of the wire packageand inside of the coil of wire 36 in the drum 34. The base or lowerportion 58 is braced with turns of tubing comprising hoops 60 that areheld in spaced relation to one another by vertically extending sectionsof tubing 62 The hoops 60 are brazed or otherwise permanently connectedto the vertically extending tubing 62 and the sections of tubing 62 areangularly spaced around the axis 14.

It is conventional for these wire drums to be of the same diameter andthose which are intended to hold more wire are made deeper. Drumsfifteen inches deep are a standard size and other drums of standard sizeare 30 inches deep for holding twice the length of wire of the smallerdrum. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the wire payout assembly is being used with ainch drum. With a 30 inch drum, the frame 10 is still supported from theridge at the top of the drum. The inner element 56 has a shoulder 64which rests on the top of the inner drum core 59. The top of the innercore is at the same elevation, relative to the outside top rim of thedrum on all conventional drums, regardless of drum length.

Sawcuts 68 are made in the sheet material of the tapered portion of theinner cone 56 extending parallel to the axis 14 and at angularly spacedregions around the circumference of the inner cone so as to leave tabs70. These tabs are then bent around the lower part of the hoop 60 andbrazed to the hoop to secure the sheet material to the base or lowerportion of the inner element S6. A wire hoop 74 is placed around thetapered portion at the upper ends of the tabs 70 to provide the shoulderwhich rests on the top end of the inner core 59 of the drum. It will beunderstood that the upper frusto conical sheet metal portion of theinner element 56 can be connected to the base or lower portion 58 inother ways than that illustrated in FIG. 4; but the construction shownin FIG. 4 is simple, strong and inexpensrve.

The operation of the invention is as follows:

When wire from a wire containing drum vis to-be payed out with thepayout assembly of this invention, the lid is first removed from thedrum and the base or lower portion 58 of the inner element 56 is theninserted into the inner core 59 of the drum package at the center of thecoil of wire in the drum. The inner element 56 is pushed down into thedrum until the shoulder rests on the top of the inner core of the drum.The frame 10 is then placed over the inner element 56 and in substantialalignment therewith and lowered until the lower end of the frame 10rests on the ridge 38 at the top of the drum 34.

The end of the wire which is to be payed out, and which is led from thedrum before inserting the base or lower portion 58 of the inner element56, and the wire is passed upwardly between the outside of the innerelement 56 and the inside of the frame 18; and is passed through thetube constituting the guide 24, around the grooved pulley 28 and throughthe guide tube 30. The end of the wire is then led to a winding machineor any other location to which the wire is to be supplied during thepayout.

As wire is pulled out of the drum 34 it is necessary for the coils ofthe wire to straighten out into straight runs; and the tapered innerelement 56 serves toprevent coils which come outof the drum from turninginto planes other than a substantially horizontal plane. These coilsunwind most easily if they are in a horizontal plane when being pulledupward in a vertical direction. If a coil is free to move into avertical plane, then the pull on the coil may reduce the coil to a smallcoil or tight e form which will kink the wire.

Sometimes groups of coils come out of the drum wit the coils hangingtogether and this sometimes makes one coil interfere with the unwindingof another coil so that it is desirable to break up the group intoseparate coils. This is done by the spaced hoops or turns of tubing16a-16e. As groups of coils are pulled upward through the frusto conicalframe 10, portions of these coils strike against one or more of thehoops and this tends to cause the coils to separate. Any coil whichstrikes against one of the hoops encounters some resistance and thistends to cause it to hold back while other coils pull loose from it.

By the time the wire has reached the upper'end of the taper of the frame10 the coils are all pulled apart and in position'to unwrap, if notalready unwrapped, to form straight runs of wire at the guide tube 24.The inside diameter of the guide tube 24 is large enough to permit freepassage of the wire through the tube 24.

One of the features of the construction illustrated is that the turns oftubing l6a-l6e are continuous around their circumference, the ends beingjoined by smooth connections; and there are no rough protrusions formedby welding of the frame or by any other feature of construction whichwould permit a loop of wire to actually catch on such a protrusion andthe wire to be pulled into a kink. All surfaces with which the wirecomes in contact are smooth for passage of the wire without catching orscratching and the reason for tapering the inner element 56 is toprevent wire loops from tightening on this tapered element as the loopstend to become smaller as they are pulled upward.

The taper of the inner element 56 is limited since a diameter of thiscone which was very much smaller than the loops of wire would not havethe same desirable effect in preventing loops from turning intovertically or partially vertical planes. Experience has shown that thetaper of the inner element 56 for preventing loops from tightening onthe cone as they are pulled upward does not require a taper any greaterthan about 1% inch diameter reduction per foot of elevation.

FIG. 5 shows a modified form of the invention in which a helical tube isused in place of the separate hoops of FIGS. 1 and 2. In theconstruction shown in FIG. 5 the successive convolutions of thehelically formed tube are used in place of the turns 16a l6e and thesecorresponding convolutions which are shown in FlG. 5 are indicated bythe same reference characters as the turns or hoops 16b, 16c, 16d andl6e with a prime appended.

These convolutions 16b, 16c, 16d and l6e are brazed to upwardlyconverging tubes 12' which correspond to the tubes 12 of the frame shownin FIGS. 1 and 2; and the convolutions function in the same way toseparate groups of wire coils from one another as the wire is payed outfrom the drum.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, but changes and modifications can be made, and some featurescan be used in different formations without departing from the inventionas defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A payout assembly for a wire drum package including in combination aframe having a lower end that supports the assembly with its verticalaxis in substantial alignment with the axis of a drum containing a coilof wire that is to be payed out from said coil, a portion of the heightof the frame being tapered and having successively higher turns oftubing with the successive turns of smaller diameter for contact withrandom coils of wire that may pass upward in a group of coils and bysaid contact to separate the group into individual coils that will pullout into straight runs of wire, an inner element within the frame andsubstantially coaxial therewith, the lower portion of said inner elementhaving a diameter that fits into a wire drum core with which the payoutassembly is intended to be used, and the upper portion of the innerelement tapering toward its upper end to prevent any substantialshifting of loops of wire into other planes after the loops of wireleave the drum and move upwardly in the frame.

2. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by thesuccessive turns of tubing being separate hoops made of smooth tubing,and verticallyextending elements of the frame that hold the hoops inspaced relation to one another with vertical spacing between them.

3. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by thesuccessive turns of tubing being convolutions of a helical tube thatextends around the axis of the vertical frame, the convolutions of thehelical tube being held in position by other parts of the frameincluding vertically extending elements secured to convolutions of thehelix at angularly spaced locations around the respective convolutions.

4. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by a guide atthe upper end of the frame including a tube in substantial alignmentwith the axis of the drum and frame, and through which the wire passes,

the guide also including a grooved pulley for changing the direction ofrun of the wire, and another tube through which the wire passes aftertraveling around an arc of the pulley, the inside radius of the guidetubes being approximately equal to the radius of the crosssection of thepulley groove, and the ends of the guide tubes being so located so as tobring the wire back into the pulley groove when the wire comes out ofthe groove as the result of slack accumulation in the wire.

5. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by the lowerend of the frame having radially spaced surfaces that fit over theinside and outside of a top rim of a wire-containing drum for supportingthe frame from the drum and for holding the frame in alignment with thedrum.

6. The payout assembly described in claim 5 characterized by the lowerend of the frame having a groove therein facing downwardly and of adiameter to fit over the top rim of the wire-containing drum, theradially spaced surfaces of the groove being the surfaces that fit overthe inside and outside of the top rim of the drum.

7. The payout assembly described in claim 1 characterized by the innerelement having a frusto conical ouside surface that decreases indiameter as it extends upward to prevent the loops of wire from becomingtight around the inner element as they travel upward and decrease indiameter.

8. The payout assembly described in claim 7 characterized by thelowerend portion of the inner element being cylindrical, a wire drumcore into which the cylindrical portion of the inner element tits at thecenter of a coil of wire contained within the drum.

9. The payout-assembly described in claim 1 characterized by the innerelement within the frame having its upper portion made of a sheetmaterial tubular construction around which loops of wire pass upwardlyfrom the drum as the loops unwind to straight runs, the upper portion ofthe inner element terminating below the top of the turns of tubing ofthe frame.

10. The payout assembly described in claim 9 characterized by the lowerportion of the inner element including a ring at its upper end of anoutside diameter to fit into the lower end of the sheet material thatforms the upper portion of the inner element, the lower end of the sheetmaterial being cut lengthwise at close angularly spaced locations aroundits circumference to form tabs that are bent around the ring from theoutside thereof and secured to the ring to connect the upper portion ofthe inner element to the lower portion 7 thereof.

1 1. The payout assembly described in claim 9 characterized by the turnsof tubing of the frame and the surfaces of the tapered inner element,with which the wire contacts either usually or occasionally, havingsmooth surfaces and being free of roughness of welds and otherprotusions on which loops of wire could catch.

* i t i

1. A payout assembly for a wire drum package incLuding in combination aframe having a lower end that supports the assembly with its verticalaxis in substantial alignment with the axis of a drum containing a coilof wire that is to be payed out from said coil, a portion of the heightof the frame being tapered and having successively higher turns oftubing with the successive turns of smaller diameter for contact withrandom coils of wire that may pass upward in a group of coils and bysaid contact to separate the group into individual coils that will pullout into straight runs of wire, an inner element within the frame andsubstantially coaxial therewith, the lower portion of said inner elementhaving a diameter that fits into a wire drum core with which the payoutassembly is intended to be used, and the upper portion of the innerelement tapering toward its upper end to prevent any substantialshifting of loops of wire into other planes after the loops of wireleave the drum and move upwardly in the frame.
 2. The payout assemblydescribed in claim 1 characterized by the successive turns of tubingbeing separate hoops made of smooth tubing, and vertically-extendingelements of the frame that hold the hoops in spaced relation to oneanother with vertical spacing between them.
 3. The payout assemblydescribed in claim 1 characterized by the successive turns of tubingbeing convolutions of a helical tube that extends around the axis of thevertical frame, the convolutions of the helical tube being held inposition by other parts of the frame including vertically extendingelements secured to convolutions of the helix at angularly spacedlocations around the respective convolutions.
 4. The payout assemblydescribed in claim 1 characterized by a guide at the upper end of theframe including a tube in substantial alignment with the axis of thedrum and frame, and through which the wire passes, the guide alsoincluding a grooved pulley for changing the direction of run of thewire, and another tube through which the wire passes after travelingaround an arc of the pulley, the inside radius of the guide tubes beingapproximately equal to the radius of the cross-section of the pulleygroove, and the ends of the guide tubes being so located so as to bringthe wire back into the pulley groove when the wire comes out of thegroove as the result of slack accumulation in the wire.
 5. The payoutassembly described in claim 1 characterized by the lower end of theframe having radially spaced surfaces that fit over the inside andoutside of a top rim of a wire-containing drum for supporting the framefrom the drum and for holding the frame in alignment with the drum. 6.The payout assembly described in claim 5 characterized by the lower endof the frame having a groove therein facing downwardly and of a diameterto fit over the top rim of the wire-containing drum, the radially spacedsurfaces of the groove being the surfaces that fit over the inside andoutside of the top rim of the drum.
 7. The payout assembly described inclaim 1 characterized by the inner element having a frusto conicalouside surface that decreases in diameter as it extends upward toprevent the loops of wire from becoming tight around the inner elementas they travel upward and decrease in diameter.
 8. The payout assemblydescribed in claim 7 characterized by the lower end portion of the innerelement being cylindrical, a wire drum core into which the cylindricalportion of the inner element fits at the center of a coil of wirecontained within the drum.
 9. The payout assembly described in claim 1characterized by the inner element within the frame having its upperportion made of a sheet material tubular construction around which loopsof wire pass upwardly from the drum as the loops unwind to straightruns, the upper portion of the inner element terminating below the topof the turns of tubing of the frame.
 10. The payout assembly describedin claim 9 characterized by the lower portion of the inner elementincluding a ring at its uppeR end of an outside diameter to fit into thelower end of the sheet material that forms the upper portion of theinner element, the lower end of the sheet material being cut lengthwiseat close angularly spaced locations around its circumference to formtabs that are bent around the ring from the outside thereof and securedto the ring to connect the upper portion of the inner element to thelower portion thereof.
 11. The payout assembly described in claim 9characterized by the turns of tubing of the frame and the surfaces ofthe tapered inner element, with which the wire contacts either usuallyor occasionally, having smooth surfaces and being free of roughness ofwelds and other protusions on which loops of wire could catch.